Pat Alford-Keating — Director of Training, Counseling Center
Following a career path that has led her to jobs at a variety of California universities, including a stint as senior staff psychologist at the University Park Health Center (UPHC), Pat Alford-Keating has returned to USC as the director of training for the Counseling Center.
When Alford-Keating first began studying for her doctorate in psychology at Oklahoma State, she planned to enter the ranks of academia. After interning at the counseling center of California State University, Long Beach, the possibilities of outreach in clinical and counseling work intrigued her. She's been working in clinical practice at universities throughout California ever since.
Alford-Keating began her career at California State University, Chico, and then worked at the UPHC, where she established the country's first LGBT mentoring program.
She went on to serve at both UCLA and UC Irvine, where she spent a year as interim training director, before returning to USC.
"All of my career led to this point. This is the position I've wanted the most," she says. "I think it's a very valued position to train the next generation of psychologists, because they are going to impact the lives of a lot of people."
As director of training, Alford-Keating will direct the recruitment and training of pre-doctoral interns for the Counseling Center. The program has a long reputation for quality, attracting candidates from all over the country, and Alford-Keating intends to build on that strength.
"I'm very interested in having collaborative relationships and spawning the ideas of the staff, listening to their ideas and their special interests,” says Alford-Keating. “The last thing I would want to do is to come in and turn everything on its ear."